


Ninety-Nine Grinds

by huffellepuff



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 21:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9257984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huffellepuff/pseuds/huffellepuff
Summary: Prompt: Coffeeshop AU where Jake is the goofy barista who charms perpetually stressed Amy and she starts looking forward to the brief respite from her hectic day he brings!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It is incredibly hard to make Jake and Amy be Jake and Amy when they are not cops, lemme tell ya. Thanks to Nicole and Cheese for the feedback!

Amy felt a bit panicked. She was ten minutes into her internship when she was was sent on her first coffee run, one with no instructions beyond “find coffee” and a list of orders. The consequences of choosing a bad café could be huge - news people did _not_ mess around when it came to caffeine, everyone knew that. And the list Sonya handed her had three different orders on it, three too many people to possibly piss off. She frantically scrolled through Yelp reviews as she walked outside, praying to find a nearby shop with five stars.

“Hah!” she said as she landed on Ninety-Nine Grinds. Five stars, only two blocks away. _Score_.

She walked in and made a beeline for the counter, behind which a barista was trying (and failing) to spin a whipped cream can around his finger. She reached the counter right about the time the canister crashed to the floor and the whipped cream went flying.

Amy stepped back as fast as she could, narrowly avoiding a blob of cream that had managed to land over the counter. _Of course_ , she thought, _of course I’d come when there’s a new guy to mess everything up._

“Sorry about that!” he said, straightening up and grinning sheepishly at her. “Welcome to Ninety-Nine Grinds, what can I get for you?”

He seemed unfazed about the whipped cream splattered all over him.

“Um,” Amy said, pulling out her order list. “I need a large iced soy chai, a large decaf drip with an add shot and milk, and a large cappuccino.”

“You know that adding a shot to a decaf kind of defeats the purpose, right?” He smirked at her. 

“I know, but it’s not for me. I just do what I’m told.” She waved her list at him and shrugged.

“Ahh, you’re the runner. And which one of these is yours, then?” he asked as he labeled the cups. 

“Oh, none of them. It’s my first day at the new job, it seems weird to get my own drink.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “Why would it be weird?”

“I...don’t know? I just prefer to play it safe.”

“Safe? They’re sending you out for coffee, I think it’ll be fine if you get one yourself,” he said, giving her a questioning look as he typed the orders in. “But if you’re sure…”

“Fine! Add a large iced vanilla latte. With a little bit of cinnamon, please.” 

“Sounds delicious. And a name for those?” 

“Amy.”

“That’ll be $13.49, Amy.” He grinned at her.

“No, that can’t be right, not with my drink - ”

He put up a hand to stop her. “Yours is on the house, since I pushed you into it. Happy first day.”

“Oh! Well, thank you, if you’re sure, but…” She bit her lip, hesitating for a moment before handing him her card.

“No worries, now go kick ass wherever it is you work,” he said, still grinning.

She found herself wanting to keep the conversation going, but knew there was a line forming behind her.

“Thank you,” she said, giving him an uncertain smile as she walked to the pick up counter. As she waited for the drinks, her eyes kept drifting back to him. He was kind of cute, for a slightly impertinent barista. 

Before she knew it, the drinks were ready and she was hauling them back to the waiting editors. Balancing a full drink carrier while avoiding collisions was a challenge, but she managed. She was back in the office within twenty minutes of having left.

She handed the cappuccino to Sonya, who looked at it with suspicion. “And where is this from?”

“Ninety-Nine Grinds, it’s a couple of blocks away and the Yelp reviews were good and - ” She froze as Sonya took a sip and looked startled.

“That is a damn fine cup of coffee, Santiago, good job,” she said, giving Amy a curt nod and walking away.

After receiving approval from the other editors, she finally tried her own, and oh my god Sonya was right. That was _delicious_. 

 

\----

 

The next four hours were a blur of intense note taking, making copies, and doing whatever it was the editors saw fit for an intern. With all of the running around she was doing, she was sure she’d have the building memorized by the end of the day. 

“Santiago!” Sonya called. “We need more coffee, take the list, go back to wherever it was that you went earlier.”

Amy grabbed the paper and booked it to the elevators. She was glad to be on the top floor of the building, as the time it took to get downstairs was a much needed rest. Of course, the rest ended all too soon and she was once again rushing to Ninety-Nine Grinds. 

“Welcome to-” the same barista from that morning began before breaking out into a grin. “Or, welcome back, I should say. What can I get for you, Amy?”

“Oh!” She was surprised he remembered her name. “Um, let me see, I think it’s the same as before, not that I expect you to remember, though you remembered my name, but that’s different than several orders, and I....”

She bit her lip, forcibly stopping herself from rambling. _Good lord_ , what was her problem? 

“A large iced soy chai, a large decaf drip with an add shot and milk, a large cappuccino, and, um…”

“Vanilla latte with a little bit of cinnamon?” he asked, looking smug. It wasn’t a bad look on him.

She laughed. “Impressive. You’re pretty good at this barista business.” 

“Well, I ought to be, otherwise buying this place would have been a _big_ mistake. Not that I haven’t made _plenty_ of those, but this has worked out alright for me so far.”

“Oh! You’re the owner? Well, you should know, my colleagues and I all really loved the coffee earlier. It’s nice to meet you, um….” she trailed off, realizing she still hadn’t actually met him.

“Jake Peralta,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand.

“Amy Santiago,” she said. She was pleased to find that he had a firm handshake, and fleetingly wondered if he had taken the same seminar she had.

Realizing that the handshake may have gone on a bit too long, she pulled her hand back to tuck her hair behind her ears.


	2. Chapter 2

By week four of the internship, Amy was starting to feel like she was losing it. She spent most of her day running around the building following editors’ orders: make copies of this, give this to Malloy, get features in here immediately, etc. It wasn’t as if this was unexpected, but she had hoped that there would be some actual journalism thrown in as well. The twice daily (and occasionally _thrice_ daily) coffee runs were the one thing that helped her stay sane during the workday. 

Every time she came in, Jake would meet her eye and grin, and she felt a little of her stress melt away. Most of the time, it was too busy for them to really talk about anything, but sometimes it was slow enough to chat. She learned that he had owned Ninety-Nine Grinds for four years, his favorite movie was Die Hard, he was _terrible_ at impressions and accents, he didn’t actually drink any of his fancy drinks (he preferred regular coffee with cream and lots of sugar), and he was by far the silliest adult she had ever met. He had exploded four whipped cream canisters _while she was watching_ (meaning probably many, many more when she wasn’t there) and still had not managed to perfect the trick, he used made up words like “noice” and “smort,” he did not care whatsoever about grammar, and he made a lot of awkward jokes. With most people these things would have annoyed her, but with him it was somehow endearing.

She tried to make it a rule not to get coffee after work, since she drank so much of it _during_ work, but it was Friday and she hadn’t gotten off until almost 8pm. She needed the pick me up. 

As she walked into Ninety-Nine Grinds, she was taken aback by the lack of people. It was usually bustling, but now there didn’t seem to be any customers.

“Sorry, we’re closed, “ Jake said as he turned around, looking slightly annoyed until he saw her, at which point he broke into a grin. “Oh, it’s you!”

Amy immediately felt embarrassed. Of course they were closed, she should have looked at the sign before waltzing in. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I’ll go.”

“No!” he said abruptly, and she could have sworn she saw a blush. “I mean, you’re such a loyal regular, I can make an exception. Especially because I’ve never seen you here later than afternoon, so I’m guessing you really need it.”

“I do, but…” She trailed off, biting her lip. He had looked so annoyed at first, she didn’t want to make things weird between them because he was just trying to keep a regular happy. “You’re closed, I totally understand, I’ll just see you on Monday.”

“Amy,” he said, starting up the espresso machine. “I am already making your latte. If you go now, it’ll just be wasted. So, hot or iced today?”

“Fine,” she said, smiling. “Hot, please. Thank you.”

“You are so welcome. Now, what brings you here so late?”

“It’s been a very long day at the end of a very long week. Coffee felt necessary.”

“Understood. So, how about making this coffee extra special? I could add a shot or, if you’re feeling crazy, a _lot_ bit of cinnamon instead,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

“‘A lot bit’ doesn’t make sense.” She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t suppress a smile. “Plus it could throw off the taste too much. I’ll stick to my usual, thank you.”

“Smort. So, for here or to go?” he asked, looking at her more intently than usual.

“Well, since technically you’re closed for the evening, I’ll say to go.” It seemed odd for him to ask at all, though, since she had never taken her coffee here before.

“Oh, yeah, but you’re pretty good company and I thought you might, you know, want to take a break before making the commute home. Wherever that is. But if you don’t want to stay, that’s totally cool too.” He shrugged in a way Amy could best describe as chalantly, which also is not a word.

“In that case, for here.”

She wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing. Her interactions with Jake had always been enjoyable, but it being just the two of them might be kind of weird. What if they ran out of things to talk about? Or he found out how boring she really is? Not that that should really matter, it’s not like not relating to your barista actually affected getting coffee. So why did she care so much?

“Order up,” he said, handing her the cup. As she reached for it, her fingers brushed his and she felt a tingle.

She grabbed the cup and looked at him, feeling slightly alarmed. She couldn’t tell if the puzzled look on his face indicated that he felt it too, or if he was just wondering why she was lingering. 

“Thanks, Jake,” she said quickly before turning to sit at one of the tables. “So...you mentioned my commute home, ‘wherever that is.’ It’s Brooklyn.”

“Hey, me too!” He grinned at her.

“In that case, why set up shop in the city?”

“It was the right opportunity at the right time, I guess.”

“Fair enough. You being here has worked out pretty well for me, so I’m glad,” she said. “Do you-” 

Just then, the door chimes went off as a vaguely familiar man walked through the door.

“Jake, you gotta lock that door at closing, what would Terry think if he knew the risks you’re taking….” The man trailed off as he noticed Amy at the table.

“Charles!” Jake called. “This is one of my best regulars, Amy. Amy, this is my accountant and best friend, Charles.”

“Oh, so _this_ is Amy,” Charles said, nodding as he looked at her. “I get it, Jake, she’s totally your t-”

“Anyway!” Jake blurted, cutting Charles off. “Amy had a rough day, so I let her stay a little late.” 

Amy looked back and forth between the two men, unsure of how to respond. Was Charles about to say she was Jake’s _type_? Obviously she had been a topic, or at least a feature, of discussion between them. But what kind of discussion was it?

“But it’s just about time for me to head out,” she said, quickly draining the contents of her cup and burning her throat in the process. “Thanks for the coffee, Jake, it’s wonderful as always. And nice to meet you Charles!”

She grabbed her bag and nearly ran out the door. Considering her knack for being in awkward situations, one would think she’d be better at handling them by now, but no. And that wasn’t even _that_ awkward, so why was she in panic mode?

 

\---

 

The next day, Amy was in desperate need of some social contact and relaxation, so Kylie came over for junk food and a movie.

As they settled in on the couch, she tried to remember what important life news she had yet to share.

“Did I tell you about that great coffee place by the paper, Ninety-Nine Grinds?” Amy asked.

“Yeah, the one with the cute barista, right?” Kylie responded, reaching for a slice of pizza.

“Did I say he was cute? I mean, he is, I guess, for a goofy barista,” she said, biting her lip. “Well, barista-slash-owner.”

“He _owns_ the place?” She raised her eyebrows. “You should totally be tapping that, Ames. At the very least it could help pay for the ridiculous coffee habit you’ve developed since finding this place.”

“Kylie!” she said, blushing. “It’s not...I mean, I think he might like me, but I can’t really tell. I’ve never been good at that sort of thing. Maybe he just has really excellent customer service skills.”

“Then why not let him service you?” she asked before bursting into laughter.

“I hate you.”

“You love me, you just hate that I hit a nerve. But seriously, tell me about him.”

And so she did. She told her about the little quirks she found so endearing, about the whipped cream explosions, about how he always remembered her order, about his goofy grin, and about what happened the night before.

“Damn, girl. You like this guy,” Kylie said, shaking her head. “That’s why you ran outta that shop last night. You’re scared, aren’t you?”

Amy almost denied it, but she supposed it was true. She hadn’t really had _feelings_ for anyone since Teddy, who she broke up with a year ago. And those feelings had faded long before she broke up with him, anyway. She wasn’t good at the feelings thing.

“Maybe. A little,” she said, sighing. “I haven’t done this all in awhile. And even if I were better at handling it, what if it’s just a temporary thing? Teddy and I had tons in common and things burnt out there way too quickly. With Jake, I just...I like him and I don’t know why. That doesn’t seem like enough.”

“You’re too logical. I say bang the barista.” Kylie shrugged as she hit play on the movie.

 

\---

 

Amy was relieved to find that on Monday everything seemed normal with Jake. Maybe whatever happened wasn’t a big deal to him. If she were being honest with herself, that sort of bothered her, but...at least it wasn’t weird. The week passed much like the ones before, except she caught herself staring a little more than she was comfortable with. Kylie was right, she definitely had a crush.

On Friday, she decided to come to Ninety-Nine Grinds again after work. She couldn’t be sure if this was due to masochism or a simple want of relaxation, but she had a nagging feeling it was the first one. This time, though, she came _before_ closing. 

“Hey, Jake,” she said as she approached the counter. “A medium chai tea, please.”

“No coffee?” he asked in a dramatic voice, raising a hand to his chest in horror. “I thought I knew you, but no, has our whole relationship been a lie?”

She laughed and tried not to dwell on the word relationship. “Alas, I’m a double agent. Brash highly caffeinated news person by day, calm slightly less caffeinated bookworm by night.”

“So betrayed.” He shook his head mournfully as he rang her up.

“Oh, and that’s for here,” she added, and was pleased to see a little smile show up on his face.

She chose a table near the counter and settled in to read a book. Well, she _tried_ to read a book. Mostly she was distracted by Jake, who, despite being busy with customers, kept glancing her way and smiling. 

As it neared closing, she began packing up her things. She was a little bit disappointed that there hadn’t been a lot of opportunity to chat, but she should have known - of course Friday night was busy. Still, it was nice to sit and relax and have charming smiles thrown her away all night.

“Leaving so soon?” Jake asked, startling her. 

She turned to around and was surprised to find herself face to face with him. He usually didn’t venture out from behind the counter.

“Oh!” she said, taking a step back. “Well, yes, I am. You’re closing, aren’t you?”

“True, but you’re welcome to hang out a bit longer,” he said. He bit his lip as he gauged Amy’s reaction. “If you wanted to, I mean. And if you don’t mind me locking the front door. Can’t have Charles coming in here to yell at me again.”

She fidgeted at the reminder of the other things Charles had said last week, but sat back down anyway. Even if her being his type hadn’t been what was meant, even if Jake wasn’t interested in her _that_ way, who was she to say no to new friendships?

They talked as Jake cleaned up, but by half an hour in he was sitting at her table, work forgotten.

“Wait, you’ve been there how long now?” he asked as she finished telling him about how the internship had been going so far.

“Five weeks.”

“And they still haven’t let you try writing something? They’re crazy to waste your talent.”

“How would you know I’ve got talent?”

“Well, I guess I don’t _know_. It just seems obvious to me that you would be good at whatever you do. You’re smart, you’re organized, you’ve clearly got your life put together.” He shrugged. 

She couldn’t help but grin at all of these nice, though baseless (as far as he knew, anyway), things he said about her. “True.”

“Ah, and she’s modest to boot!” He laughed.

“Hey, you’re the one that said it, I’m just agreeing,” she said, giving his shoulder a shove. He seemed surprised by the contact, and quickly stood up. 

“I should, uh, start closing up again, I didn’t mean to end up sitting so long…” he said, giving her a smile that was just slightly off. 

She sighed as she watched him walk back behind the counter. Things had been going so well that she hadn’t thought anything about a playful shove, but apparently she’d miscalculated. 

“Anyway,” he said as he began loading the dishwasher. “They’re stupid and should totally give you a writing assignment. I hope they do soon.”

“Thanks,” she said, surprised that he continued the conversation. His abrupt departure from the table had felt like an end. “I hope so too.”

“That’s why I went into business for myself. I can do whatever I want without anybody there to stop me,” he said, pride evident on his face as he looked around the shop. “Well, mostly. Charles keeps me from blowing all of the profits on crap I apparently don’t need. I’d be more upset about it, but he’s probably right. And Terry, he’s basically my business advisor, helps me figure out all the rest of the responsibility stuff.”

“Sounds like a good team.”

“I’m pretty fond of them.” 

Conversation continued at a comfortable pace, though Jake didn’t return to the table. It wasn’t until she got a text from her brother that she even thought to look at the time, and she was surprised to see that two hours had passed since closing.

“Oh my god, it’s like 10pm, I should go. Thanks for letting me hang out, it was really nice,” she said, hoping that she didn’t sound too eager.

“Oh, totally. Thanks for staying, it’s more fun with some company,” he said, grinning at her. “See you next week.”

“Next week?” Was that a roundabout way of saying they should do this again?

“For your million coffee runs on Monday?”

“Oh! Yes, for those, yeah, not for this again, I mean yeah, see you Monday!” Oh, god, she was rambling and needed to leave _now_. 

She bolted out the door without turning to see his response. Maybe someday she’d manage to get through a full conversation with someone she liked without making a fool of herself.


	3. Chapter 3

As it turned out, Amy wasn’t far off with her blunder. Over the next month or so, hanging out with Jake on Friday nights became routine. She _still_ couldn’t tell if he was interested, and she was never confident enough in this arena to actually ask, but she enjoyed his company nonetheless. It was all uncharted territory for her, actively spending time with someone she had feelings for. In the past, her crushes were either very remote or something happened pretty quickly. And she still wasn’t sure why she liked him so much. Sure, he was cute, but they had little in common beyond passion for the (usually different) things they loved. The amount of passion he had for Die Hard, though, _was_ surprisingly endearing. And he made her laugh, more than anyone else she had ever met.

She hadn’t realized just how routine it all become until she had to work so late one night that he was already gone by the time she came by the shop. It wasn’t like they had a standing date or anything, but it felt so weird to her that she went into the city on Saturday just to see him and let him know what happened.

Unfortunately, it had never crossed her mind that he might not even be there. When she arrived, the only people behind the counter were ones she didn’t really know. A couple of them looked sort of familiar, but that was about it.

“Uh, hi” she said, stalling as she debated whether or not to ask for him. Was that weird?

“What do you want?” the woman behind the counter asked, looking bored. Amy was taken aback by the rude demeanor. 

“Gina! How many times have I told you, you gotta be nice to the customers,” a very large man said before turning to Amy. “Welcome to Ninety-Nine Grinds, how may I help you?”

“Oh, uh, a large vanilla latte with a little bit of cinnamon, please, and uh, is Jake here?” she asked, though she hadn’t meant to.

“No, he’s got the weekend off, but I can get a message to him if you need,” he said.

“Oh, no, that’s fine, I mean, tell him Amy was here I guess? No, actually, I’m sure I’ll see him on Monday, so, just the coffee please, thanks.” Real subtle rambling, way to go.

“So _you’re_ Amy,” he said, a look of panic setting in as he realized what he said. “I mean, Jake’s mentioned you staying late on Fridays when I’ve talked to him about security stuff. I’m Terry.”

“Okay. Well, nice to meet you, Terry,” she said, wishing she hadn’t asked about him. Terry wasn’t the only one paying closer attention now.

“Gina Linetti,” the rude girl said, pushing past Terry and giving Amy a once over. “You’ll do.”

“Go make the latte, Gina,” Terry said, pointing her towards the cups. “Sorry about that, she’s got to work on her attitude a bit.”

“It’s okay.” More than anything, she just wanted to get her drink and go now. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t considered that Jake might have a day off now and then.

As Amy waited, Gina kept giving her appraising looks and exchanging significant glances with the other barista, a familiar and scary looking woman she thought might usually work weekdays. Once the coffee was in her hand, she made a beeline for the door and ran smack into someone.

“Sorry!” she said, looking up as she felt strong hands steady her.

“Amy, hi!” Jake said. “What’re you doing here on the weekend?”

He was still standing very close to her and she found herself rendered temporarily speechless. Her eyes wandered from his face over to his hands on her shoulders. Following her gaze, he suddenly let go of her, placing his hands in his pockets as he stepped back. 

“Coffee. I’m here because, uh, I wanted coffee, of course.” Words! Finally, words were coming.

“Oh, duh.” He laughed awkwardly. “So...didn’t see you last night.”

Amy immediately felt guilty, though she knew there was no real reason to. “Actually, that’s why I’m here. I got bogged down at work until super late and I didn’t want you to think that I, um…”

“Well, it’s not like it was a _date_ or something, you don’t owe me an explanation,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “It’s cool.”

“No, but it’s...it’s something, isn’t it?” she asked, surprised at her own honesty.

He bit his lip, an action Amy found incredibly distracting. “It feels like something. So...we’re friends, right?”

“Yeah, friends! We are friends, that sounds right,” she said, though it suddenly hit her just how much she wanted to be more.

“And friends hang out. They make casual plans sometimes, but let each other know when they won’t work out, right? So, here’s my number,” he said, grabbing her coffee cup out of her hands and writing on the side of it. “That way, you can let me know if you can’t make it. No big deal.”

He handed the cup back to her, looking uncertain.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said, quickly programming his number into her phone and texting him. “And now you have mine.”

“Cool cool cool cool cool cool. Well, see you around, Amy,” he said, giving her a thumbs up before walking into the back.

 

\----

 

The weekend ended up being quite a long one, largely spent trying to keep herself busy so she didn’t text him (a feat made more difficult by the fact that her internet was down). The number exchange was about potential planning/cancelling, not about general conversation. And it’s not like he’d been texting her, either, so. It was a Bad Idea and she should Not Do It.

She really wanted to do it.

By Monday, she was grateful to be at work. Things were always busy there, providing sufficient distraction for her to ignore her phone. Her relief soon faded, though, as Sonya called her into her office. The tone seemed different than usual and Amy, never one to half-ass anything, was catastrophizing to the fullest extent possible. 

“Santiago,” Sonya said, gesturing to a chair. “Have a seat, please.”

“Y-yes ma’am.” She tried to think of anything she had done recently worth reprimanding, but nothing came to mind.

“How long have you been working with us?” she asked, a bored look on her face.

“Just over two months.” Oh god, was she going get fired?

“Well, in that case, it’s about time we give you a writing assignment.” 

Amy let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Oh my god, yes, thank you!”

“It’s just a little human interest piece on a police captain in Brooklyn. If we like it we’ll publish it and if we don’t, well, better luck next time,” she said, handing her a piece of paper with a name on it. “In the meantime, we need to get some coffee in here ASAP.”

Amy tried to keep her steps calm as she left the office, but gave up the pretense by the time she got outside. She was practically skipping as she entered Ninety-Nine Grinds and approached Jake, who was wiping down tables.

“Well, good morning, Amy,” he said, looking amused. “You sure you need coffee today? You seem a little amped up already.”

“They gave me a story!” she blurted. 

Wthout realizing what she was doing, she hugged him. He tensed for a moment, unsure of how to respond, before wrapping his arms around her.

“That is so great,” he said, looking slightly shellshocked as she pulled away from him. 

“Oh, sorry for the attack.” She was too excited to let herself be embarrassed for her slip up. There would be time to think about that later. “I’m just a little overwhelmed right now.”

“No, that’s fine, it’s exciting news! Totally worthy of a hug.”

“Okay, good. I should really get the coffees and get back, but I have so much to think about and prepare...except, shit, my internet is down at home...” She knew she could use the computers at work, but it felt weird to stay late when no one else was.

“Just come here after work, we’ve got free wifi,” he said. “The password is McClane99, capital M, capital C.”

“Of course it is,” she said, smirking at the Die Hard reference. “Anyway, coffee time.” 

She walked up to the counter and ordered, but not even the scary barista (who, she had learned, was named Rosa) could wipe the grin off of her face.

 

\----

 

Ten hours later, Amy was back in the shop and typing furiously on her laptop. The evening crowd was calm around her and there was nothing to distract her (except for one stupidly charming barista, but that was tolerable). 

“How do you type so fast?” Jake asked, peering over the counter at her screen. 

“Uh, lots of practice, I guess? I don’t know, that’s a weird question.” She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. “Why? How fast do _you_ type?”

“No idea, but it’s slow. I’m not always the most coordinated person,” he said, shrugging.

“So I gathered,” she said with a laugh, nodding toward the remnants of his most recent whipped cream canister explosion.

“Hey, someday I’m going to get that trick down, and it is going to blow your freaking mind. Anyway, how’s the research going?”

“This Captain Holt guy sounds amazing. He’s the first openly gay, black commanding officer in the NYPD. And back in the ‘80s, he caught the Disco Strangler.”

“Noice, sounds like a badass,” he said appreciatively. “You’re welcome to stay as late as you need, by the way.”

“Thanks,” she said, giving him a quick smile before going back to her work. 

 

\---

 

Amy spent every night that week at the shop, doing additional research before her scheduled interview with Captain Holt. On Saturday morning, despite all of her preparation, she couldn’t help but feel nervous as she went to meet with him. 

She had offered to meet somewhere in Brooklyn, but he requested that she choose a place in the city since he and his husband were attending an opera event later that day. Naturally, she chose the place that had kind of begun to feel like home. There was no harm in possibly impressing him with the best coffee in Manhattan, after all.

Once she walked into the building, she began to relax a little. Something about this place and about Jake (who grinned at her the moment she entered, as if he had a sixth sense about exactly when she’d show up) was incredibly comforting. She took a deep breath and repeated her mantra: she was going _rock_ this interview.

“What’ll it be, you kick ass journalist, you?” Jake asked before she could even reach the counter.

“Large chai. I’m on the edge as it is, god knows what I’d say if I drank espresso.”

“Fair enough. But seriously, you’ll do awesome, I know it,” he said, smiling at her with such sincerity that she nearly blushed. “Oh, and the best table juuuuust freed up so you should totally go snag it.”

Following his gaze, she saw a table by the window that had a clear view of the door. “Oh, thanks!”

She sat down and debated the most professional looking arrangement for her notepad, pen, and recorder. As she considered whether the pen looked better on top of or next to the notepad, a hand touched her shoulder and startled her.

“You’re fine,” Jake said, leaning in and giving her shoulder a squeeze before setting her chai on the table. “Couldn’t look more professional if you tried. Well, I’m sure you did try, but my point still stands.”

Ignoring the slight shock to her system from both his proximity and utter accuracy about her, she smiled up at him. 

Just then, the door opened and Captain Holt walked in. Amy stood up, nearly knocking Jake over. Thankfully, he appeared to be understanding, responding to her apologetic grimace with a shrug and getting out of her way.

“Captain Holt?” she said as the approached the man, offering her hand. “I’m Amy Santiago, we spoke on the phone.”

“Good morning, Miss Santiago. This is a very nice café you’ve chosen. It’s clean and has good lighting. The table spacing is also appropriate,” he said, shaking her hand and looking around as she led him to the table.

“Oh, yes, all qualities I appreciate about it. They’ve got wonderful coffee. I also thought it’d be funny to come here, since it’s Ninety-Nine Grinds and you’re captain of the 99th precinct.” She cringed slightly at her own joke, particularly when she saw the complete lack of expression on his face.

“That is incredibly funny, you really must be an adept writer,” he said, giving her a nod as he sat down. “Now, is it counter or table service here?”

She was about to tell him it was counter service only, but Jake appeared next to them with an order pad in hand (which was particularly odd given that they always took orders directly onto the iPad). 

“Good morning, sir, what can we get for you?” he asked, his face serious but polite. 

As he took the captain’s order - black coffee - Amy had to work not to laugh. If it weren’t so clear he was trying to help her impress her interviewee, she’d almost be mad at him. As it was, though, it was especially endearing.

“Well, Miss Santiago, where shall we begin?” Captain Holt asked.


	4. Chapter 4

After the interview, which Amy felt had gone rather well, she immediately moved the recording onto her computer, popped in her headphones, and got to work. It had been so long since she had written anything official, she was on a definite high. She hardly even looked up until she caught Jake hovering out of the corner of her eye.

“Earth to Amy,” he said, waving at her.

“Oh! God, what time is it? I was really in the zone,” she said, surprised to look out the window and see that it was dark.

“It’s 8 o’clock, we’re closing. You don’t have to go quite yet, but I thought you’d wanna know, the chai refills stop here ‘cause I gotta clean the steamer,” he said, replacing the cup on her table with a full one. 

“Refills?” She looked at the cup in confusion. “Wait, I don’t remember running out at all. Did you keep bringing me refills?”

“You were distracted.” He shrugged. “And don’t worry about the cost, secret refills are free.”

“Jake, you really shouldn’t have,” she said, taking a sip of the chai anyway. 

“So how goes the writing?” he asked as he began putting chairs up.

“Really good! Captain Holt is amazing, it’d be hard to make a piece about him uninteresting, but I feel like I’ve got a good angle on it.”

“Awesome awesome,” he said with a grin. “He seemed sort of, um, dry to me but I’m sure you’ve got it.”

“He...isn’t the most expressive guy, but I think I understood him,” she said, smiling as she remembered their conversation. “He’s had a fascinating life, though, it’s very inspiring.” 

“I can’t wait to read all about it in your article, which, by the way, is _definitely_ going to get published.”

She bit her lip to hold back a grin.

 

\---

 

The following Friday, she floated more than walked into Ninety-Nine Grinds. Her piece on Captain Holt made it into the paper that morning. She had had plenty of things published in her high school, college, and local papers, but never in a truly reputable publication. All through the day, she was firmly planted on cloud nine.

“Did you see this?” she asked, shoving the newspaper at Jake before he had time to respond. “My profile piece, front page! Below the fold, but who cares?”

“Of course I saw it!” he said, appearing nearly as excited as she was. “I haven’t touched an actual newspaper in years, but I went straight out and bought a copy.”

“Aw, thanks.” She beamed at him. “I legitimately cannot stop smiling. Oh, and just the usual four drinks.”

“It’s a good look, no reason to stop. So, uh, are you doing anything fun to celebrate?” he asked as he punched in her order.

“Nothing planned so far.”

“I was thinking, maybe, if you were into it, we could - ” 

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. She let out the breath she had been holding as she spoke. 

He frowned. “Do you need to get that?”

She cursed at her phone. “Shit, yes, it’s my boss.”

“No worries, do your thang,” he said, giving her a smile that was only a shadow of its usual self. 

He finished ringing her up and made the drinks while she spoke to Sonya. Apparently, a sinkhole had opened up uptown and now the office was a madhouse as people went to cover it, so she needed Amy back as soon as possible. She was still on the phone as her order came up. Grabbing the tray, she gave Jake a half hearted wave as she made her way out the door.

It was exciting to be included on an event as it happened in real time, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. She really thought Jake might be about to ask her out, and now….well, he could try again, but he could also change his mind. She hated herself a little bit for thinking like this, for almost caring more about a guy she hardly knew than her job, but it was on her mind nonetheless. Still, she pushed forward, and was soon more focused on sinkholes than romance.

 

\---

 

For the first time since starting her internship, Amy did not make a second coffee run. The coverage of the sinkhole and the subsequent damage led to understaffing onsite, so no one left the building. It was frantic and chaotic, but she was thriving on it. 

She was finally able to punch out at about 7, but she didn’t even make it out the door before her phone rang again. 

“Amy Santiago,” she said, answering without a glance at the screen.

“Ames, it’s Kylie, are you seriously still at work?” 

“Oh, hi, yeah, it’s been crazy today.”

“That must be why you never replied to my texts,” she said, and Amy quickly took the phone from her ear to glance at the screen, where the little red bubble showed 30 new text notifications.

“Oops,” she said as she raised the phone back to her ear. “Sorry about that, what’s up?”

“What’s up is that you have been _published_ in the _Journal_. We gotta go celebrate!”

“Oh, Kylie, I don’t know if I’m up for that, I was just going to -”

“Go get a coffee and pine over barista boy?” Amy could practically hear the eyebrow raise just from Kylie’s tone.

“Well, yes, but I - “

“Go out with me tonight. For some absurd reason you’re obviously still not banging that barista, so you’ve gotta go loosen up some other way. Drinks are on me, I am already headed your way with that fabulous little red dress, bye!” Kylie said, hanging up without waiting for an answer.

Amy found her friend more than a little exhausting sometimes, but it always seemed to be better to go along with her schemes. Maybe a night out would be good for her after all, who couldn’t use a few drinks after a long day? 

She unlocked her phone again, scrolling down to Jake’s message window. She still hadn’t worked up the nerve the text him beyond the initial _“Hey, it’s Amy. :)”_ she had sent weeks ago, but this was exactly the kind of circumstance they had exchanged numbers for.

_Hi Jake. Turns out my friend’s taking me out tonight to celebrate the article, so I probably won’t see you until Monday. Thanks again for all the support!_

She took a deep breath and hit send. This wasn’t blowing him off, this was totally understandable. Almost immediately, she received a response. Opening the message, she was not at all surprised to see a lack of grammar and proper punctuation.

_no prob, u deserve a fun night!!! :) :) :) i’ll just be here practicing my movez_

She laughed when the attachment came through, a photo of yet another exploded canister on the floor. 

_Getting better already, I see._

“You look like a 13 year old, twirling your hair and all,” Kylie said as she walked up to Amy.

“Shut up, you look like a….12 year old,” she said defensively. Comebacks had never been her strong suit.

“Are you texting _Jake_?” she asked, pulling the phone from Amy’s hands and studying the screen. “You’re such a dork, oh my god.”

“Hey, give that back!” Amy wasn’t all that short, but Kylie’s five inch heels gave her a significant height advantage, so all she had to do was lift her arm to keep it from her.

“You won’t need it. Plus, you need to let loose. Focusing on work or your crush won’t help. I’ll give it back when I drop you off at home,” she said, grinning as she threw a bag at her. “Now, I brought you that awesome dress. Go back inside, get changed, and we’re gonna have some fun.”

 

\---

 

“Girl, you got some moves,” Kylie said, laughing as she watched Amy dance.

“Damn straight I do!” she replied, hip bumping her friend for emphasis. They had been at the club for about an hour and Amy was already three drinks in and feeling _good_. She knew she wasn’t the world’s best dancer, but right now she just didn’t care. The club was having a ‘90s night and it was the first time in years that she actually knew all of the songs playing.

“Ames, I think that guy over there is checking you out.”

She followed Kylie’s gaze to the bar and did a double take.

“Jake?!” she said as she walked towards him. “What are you doing here?”

“You texted me and said I should come…” He trailed off, looking at her like she was crazy.

“I texted you?” She rifled through her bag to look for her phone before remembering that Kylie had it. “Oh my god, I’m gonna kill her.”

“Who?”

“Kylie, the friend who brought me here,” she said, motioning behind her. “She must have sent the the text inviting you.”

Jake’s face fell, and Amy immediately regretted her words.

“Oh, I see,” he said, putting on an uneasy smile. “In that case, I should probably go…”

“No!” She grabbed his hand as he began to walk away. “I’m glad you’re here, you should totally stay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Definitely. Come on, let’s dance,” she said, pulling him towards the middle of the room. She felt tingly where she was holding his hand, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t just an effect of the alcohol.

Sober Amy would never have had the courage to basically demand a dance, but drunk Amy was thrilled for the opportunity. Dancing with Jake to Salt ‘N’ Peppa was definitely better than she had imagined the night would go. Thankfully, he seemed happy to go along with it. 

Before long, Kylie showed up and shoved drinks into their hands. “Shots!”

“It’s blue,” Amy said, crinkling her nose.

“Noice, I love blue drinks!” Jake said, grinning. “And you must be Kylie?”

“Nice to meet you Jake.” She gave him a nod before turning to walk away. “But I see a fine lady over there that I think needs my attention.”

“Wait, give me my phone back!” Amy called. 

Kylie turned around, smirking as she handed her the phone. “No problem, I don’t need it anymore.”

She glared at her friend as she walked away.

“So, that’s Kylie,” Jake said, chuckling. “She seems…”

“Yep. That’s Kylie,” she said, staring at the glass in her hand before drinking it as quickly as she could. “Oh, god, it even _tastes_ blue.”

Jake followed suit and grimaced. “ _Wow_. What the hell _is_ this?”

“God only knows.”

They continued dancing, but it wasn’t long before she started feeling the effects of the fourth drink. The Spice Girls’ “2 Become 1” had just begun playing and she was _feeling_ it. Grabbing his hips, she pulled him closer as she danced. He looked surprised for a moment, but didn’t seem to mind going along with it.

“I love this song,” she said, waggling her eyebrows at him suggestively. “Know what it’s about?”

“Yeah, I think I’ve got it,” he said with an uncertain smile.

“It’s about _sex_.” She slid her hand to his ass and squeezed it for emphasis.

“Whoa, Amy, hold on,” he said, stepping away from her. 

“Oh, I can hold on _all night_.” She moved forward, closing the gap.

He looked pained for a moment before once again stepping back, this time placing his hands on her shoulders to force space between them.

“You are totally drunk right now, aren’t you?” 

“No! I’m a _little bit_ drunk, not a lot bit drunk.” She started laughing at her own joke. “Get it?”

He shook his head and sighed. “I think I should go.”

“Come onnnnn, Jaaaake, you should stay!” 

“See you later, Amy,” he said, giving her an apologetic smile before walking out of the club.


	5. Chapter 5

The following morning, Amy woke up feeling fairly certain that her brain had been replaced by bricks. This wasn’t unusual after a night out with Kylie, but this time it was accompanied by a vague sense of foreboding and she wasn’t quite sure why.

She reached over to check her phone and the feeling increased. She had ten messages from Kylie and one from Jake. Bracing herself, she opened Kylie’s first.

_Girl where are you????_  
Seemed like you were having a great time but then you take off with no explanation???  
Omg are you with Jake???  
Fucking finally  
I should’ve known the way you were all up on him  
Looked like you were ready to get down right there  
I knew giving you those shots was a great idea  
I’m gonna take it as a good sign that you aren’t replying  
HAVE FUN!  
You’re welcome btw 

“Shit.” Nothing like some helpful texts to jog the memory. ‘All up on him’ hardly covered it, she was practically sexually harassing him on the dance floor. She wasn’t exactly relishing the idea of reading his text, but she needed to get it over with so she could apologize to him.

_good morning, hope ur not feeling too crappy. i think we should talk when ur up for it._

She couldn’t believe she was getting a ‘we need to talk’ from a guy she wasn’t even dating. Then again, she _had_ groped him, so it was an understandable sentiment. She spent the next twenty minutes agonizing over a reply before finally settling on something that didn’t make her cringe.

_I’ve been better, but I think I’ll pull through. I’m sorry about last night. I agree, we should talk. Do you want to meet somewhere later?_

She closed her eyes and tried to force herself back to sleep, but there was no chance of that happening. All she could do was lie there and stress about things until her phone finally dinged again almost ten minutes later.

_sure. coffee? there’s a place on franklin and hancock. meet at 2?_

Three hours from now seemed like an eternity, but it would at least give her time to try to start feeling human again.

_Okay, see you at 2:00!_

 

\---

 

Amy got there at 1:30. It had taken four ibuprofen, two cups of coffee, a piece of toast, and a long shower, but she was feeling mostly like herself again. She ordered a coffee (she had built up quite a tolerance, after all) and sat down at a corner table to wait. It occurred to her that this was the first time she and Jake made plans to meet somewhere other than his shop - it was almost like a date, except her anxiety was giving her more of an ‘impending breakup’ sense than a ‘start of something new’ sense.

Jake arrived fifteen minutes later and the butterflies in her stomach started working overtime. No matter what, something was about to change. He didn’t seem to notice her, going straight to the counter to order. She watched him and argued with herself on whether she should get his attention yet, but he soon looked around and caught her eye.

“Amy, hey,” he said. His smile was still so warm and genuine, even with the awkwardness. “You wanna take a walk?”

“Sure,” she said, grabbing her things and standing up. 

“It seems easier to talk out here,” he said as they stepped outside, where they were immediately greeted with the sound of a blaring car horn. “Other people can’t hear anything. Trust me when I say, no conversation in a cafe or restaurant is truly private. It’s _amazing_ what people will talk about in front of their servers, as if they’re not even there.”

“That is disconcerting but good to know.” 

They walked in silence for a few minutes until they reached a park. 

“Shall we?” he asked, motioning to a nearby bench. She sat next to him, feeling acutely aware of his proximity. 

“So…” she started, willing herself to speak, “you said we should talk, and I think I need to start. I already said it in the text but oh my god, Jake, I am so, so sorry about my behavior last night. I didn’t mean… I would never...”

“Apology accepted,” he said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. “You were drunk, it’s just that - “

“No,” she said, cutting him off. “I mean, yes, I _was_ drunk. But that doesn’t make it okay and it obviously upset you.”

“Yeah. Here’s the thing, Amy, I…” He looked down as he spoke, unable to make eye contact with her. “I like you. Like, _like_ like you. Romantic stylez. So what happened last night was a, um, difficult thing? I wasn’t about to take advantage of the fact that you were drunk, and I think you’ve made it clear now that it was really only because of the alcohol, but I just...need you to know that. I don’t want things to be weird, I’d rather be your friend than nothing. It just bummed me out is all.”

She reached out and touched his cheek, directing his attention back towards her and the grin that she couldn’t suppress. She had planned on talking first, really, but the sudden hopeful glimmer in his eyes was too much to bear. She leaned over and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was brief, but she hoped it conveyed what it needed to. He seemed in awe as she pulled away.

“I’m glad nothing happened last tonight, I am _so_ embarrassed, but it mostly definitely was not entirely the alcohol,” she said. She could feel a blush rising in her cheeks, but she didn’t care. “Jake, I like you too. I’ve been arguing with myself for weeks about whether or not to ask you out.”

“Same!” 

“What a useful pair we are,” she said, giggling. The moment had quickly gone from serious to giddy and she couldn’t be happier. “So, Jake, would you like to go out with me tonight?” 

He placed his hand on his chin as if deep in thought, and she rolled her eyes.

“I think…” he started, “I think that I’d like that a latte.”

“Oh my god, you dork,” she laughed, closing the gap between them and kissing him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me at [amaliabalash.tumblr.com](http://amaliabalash.tumblr.com) :)
> 
> also, startofamoment made this [awesome tumblr graphic](http://startofamoment.tumblr.com/post/156872568276/b99-coffee-shop-au-in-which-jake-serves-the) to go with the fic!


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